Abstract

• Silkworm pupae, a waste of the silk industry, are produced in large quantities in Kayin State and Mandalay region of Myanmar and are often discarded to the surrounding environment or used as a fertilizer for plant growth. In the present study, silkworm pupae were used as an alternative animal protein to replace fishmeal used as experimental feed for catfish, Pangasius hypothalamus. The feeding trial had three treatments: (1) silkworm pellet (SWP) with 26% of crude protein; (2) commercial floating pellet (CFP) with 32% protein, and (3) commercial sinking pellet (CSP) with 28% protein. Silkworm pellet (SWP) was formulated and produced using a small extruder in the laboratory. Total 180 fingerlings of catfish divided into six groups were stocked in glass aquariums providing two replication tanks for each treatment. The fish were cultured for 3 months from October to December 2019 in the laboratory condition. Among the three different diets, the highest growth rate was observed in CFP with (3.9 %/ day) and the second highest growth rate was recorded in SWP with (3.7 %/ day). Feed Conversion Ratio (FCR) of SWP, CFP and CSP were 3.37, 2.8 and 4.05 respectively. The weight gains (WG) of CFP, SWP and CSP were 10.57, 9.36 and 8.43, respectively at the end of experiment. Only 3% of mortality was found in the tank treated with CFP. This study revealed that the silkworm had very high protein content (52%) and it could be considered as an alternative dietary supplement for catfish.